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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Please talk to me about ear piercing, its doing my head in today.

95 replies

PurpleBurtle · 13/08/2016 19:08

So my 9yrold daughter (10 next month) really wants her ears pierced. Ive been looking into it today and deciding on where and which method but I keep coming up with mixed opinions and have changed my mind a few times...I need to get this done asap so she has a good few weeks for healing before she might have to take them out for a day when she has P.E once back at school..I know Ive still left it a bit late.

Anyway Ive been looking at gun vs needle and the needle seems to be the one people say is best so thought I had decided, however I have called a few tattoo/piercing studios today and they use a gun anyway!

Im still reluctant to use the gun method but think its going to be difficult to find somewhere that will use the needle!

AIBU to hold off a bit longer or should I just go for it. Claires seems the easiest place but heard mixed views, dont really know what to expect from a tattoo studio, woman I spoke to didnt seem to know much, and said they use an air pressured gun, and they get lots of kids in and use titanium studs, dont know what the aftercare is like

Please help me decide what to do, Ive also looked at the jewellers f hinds but wont be able to get an appointment with them till next week, they use a studex 75 gun but not sure if this is the same as claires.

Its all doing my head in to be honest..maybe Im over worrying and I should just pop down to claires tomorrow get it done and do a bit of shopping after.?!? I mean it seems like alot of people use them

OP posts:

Sugarlightly · 13/08/2016 22:32

i would always go for a needle over a gun after researching each

However, weirdly, I had no issues with my piercings by a gun, but my 2nd lobe piercing with a needle took about 6 months to heal properly! No idea why

DelicatePreciousThing1 · 13/08/2016 22:36

@OP
She is too young.

Kstar8 · 13/08/2016 22:38

I and mine done with a gun in debenhams when I was 8 years old (over 20 years ago now!). My ears became infected but that may have been due to the metal used in the piercing.
I had further holes pierced in my teens at tattoo shops using needles and realised my original holes weren't quite straight which makes my run of three slightly out.
The needle was less painful, less of a blunt force and healed nicely. Plus I felt that a lot of care was taken in the tattoo shops to position them right.
I am pregnant with a baby girl and would take her to a professional piercer/tattoo studio if she wanted them done.

Trashbox · 13/08/2016 22:43

My mum had hers done at Claire's. The gun got stuck in her ear and it took 45 minutes to sort out!

lougle · 13/08/2016 23:03

Milpool have you registered that the 'gun' doesn't come into contact with the ear? They don't sterilise it at all. Wiping it with alcohol wipes is not sterilising it. But the cartridge is sterile (until they unwrap it).

As for the size of the hole. If they use a needle the hole has to be big enough to hold an earring. If they use the studex, the hole has to be big enough to hold an earring.

MrsGsnow18 · 13/08/2016 23:08

I have had my ears pierced lots of times in lots of places ( wild youth ) in beauty salon with a gun when ten, in Claire's once with a gun and lots of times with neddle in piercing specialists/tattoo places.
Only bad experience was Claire's. It never healed and both sides weren't even ( it was second lobe piercing so not cartilage)
Maybe I just had a bad experience but most people i know don't rate Claire's highly.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 13/08/2016 23:10

All of my lobe piercings are from a gun. I had them done at a tattooist and a chemist, variously. No problems. I wouldn't go to a hair salon or a Claire's. I've never had any problems (and I'm a proper bleeder/scar up easily)

nolongersurprised · 13/08/2016 23:15

What I liked about the piercer who did my daughter's ears is that after the first she then rechecked the marked position of the second and spent some time making sure they'd be symmetrical. I'm not sure how that could be done with simultaneous piercing.

For my nervous daughter the whole thing was very calm - the piercer marked where she was piercing, held the lobe steady in a sort of plastic grip thing, told my DD what she was doing at every point and taught her how to breathe through it.

The simultaneous piercing in case they cry doesn't sit right with me - if a child is going to get massively upset after a piercing then, in my opinion, they weren't ready to have it done in the first place. My DD knew it would hurt a bit but really really wanted it done.

midcenturymodern · 13/08/2016 23:25

dd had hers done with a needle. The piercer put a dot on each of her lobes and checked they were symmetrical and dd was happy with the position then she put some rings on, like sleepers, that left indentations in the back of the lobes so she could see where the needle needed to come out so they aren't wonky. I think it must be much harder to get the positioning right with a gun. I did find it hard to find a piercer who would do under 16s with a needle.

lljkk · 13/08/2016 23:29

The only ones I had trouble with were ones I did myself with a needle.
3 x done with gun all no trouble at all.

HSMMaCM · 13/08/2016 23:31

Takes about six weeks to heal. DD's school made it clear to get them done at the start of holidays, because they would be made to remove them for PE.

CrowyMcCrowFace · 13/08/2016 23:32

lougle - it's not about contact with the ear, so much as airborne particles of blood & tissue. Nor is it about the size of the hole - it's about the collateral damage to surrounding tissue, because you're forcing through a relatively blunt pointy thing.

Studex is an advance on trad piercing guns, but its selling point is, basically, that untrained piercers can use it. No thanks! I want my piercings (& any my dc have) done by someone who works as a professional piercer. With a needle. Not a Saturday kid with a glorified stapler.

There are plenty of Studex horror stories if you Google. Although they're also known for being quite litigious when criticised...

So it's a no from me to anything but a professional with a needle. If that means dd2 has to hold her horses until I can find her someone to do it, that's fine.

Am aware that this possibly makes me an over thinking arse to some, not least dd2. But being fairly perforated myself I believe in doing these things right! . Also - ganky earlobes. Ugh. Why make that more likely a thing than it needs to be?

Vickyyyy · 13/08/2016 23:36

Ugh I remember the day I got my ears pierced. First one went in fine. Second one, there was a piece of gristle in my ear apparently that blocked the gun, but the woman pressed it a further 5 times before giving in then just doing it NEXT to where it was meant to be.

I guess there may have been problems with a needle too though..

I dread the day DD asks for hers done. I honestly had less pain when I got my belly button pierced, and my eyebrow, and my tongue tbh :S

nolongersurprised · 13/08/2016 23:38

I was also pierced a lot in my Wild Youth, sadly much more conservative now. That probably influenced my decision about DD being pierced by a needle. I wanted someone who actually knew about piercing and healing and who took pride in their work.

nolongersurprised · 13/08/2016 23:40

The rotating the piercing and coating it with irritant solution is outdated. Best advice is saline and otherwise leave it completely alone.

PennyAsset · 13/08/2016 23:41

DD had her ears pierced at Claire's several months ago. She's having problems despite using their cleaning fluid and turning them as advised by the piercer.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/08/2016 23:47

I had the gun that held the back of the earring and front then it clicked together with my ear in between. Earrings came in a sealed packet- little gold stars, I loved them and still have them in my jewellery box!

OptimisticSix · 14/08/2016 00:54

In my personal experience gun for ears, needle for anything else :)

NotMyMoney · 14/08/2016 10:20

Guns for piercings cause trauma as they force there way into the ear lobes a needle slides through the ear making healing time quicker and your DD shouldn't remove her earing till they are fully healed and they heal from the outside in

lljkk · 14/08/2016 10:29

Needle still pierces the skin & causes damage, that is a trauma.. If guns bruise a larger area fair enough, but to imply there's no pain or trauma with needles is daft.

I say that as someone who pierce own ears with needles, I practically went into shock doing that. One of mine is fairly on the skew.

PennyAsset · 14/08/2016 10:32

So basically, no one knows for sure either way?

SlinkyVagabond · 14/08/2016 10:42

Promise it for next summer, as it's too late now. That gives you lots of time to prepare.

lougle · 14/08/2016 11:41

Honestly. I'm not being naive here. I'm a nurse, i know about trauma, tissue damage, healing by primary and secondary intention, normal saline, hypertonic saline, the whole shebang.

I have been utterly amazed by the lack of trauma to my DDs' ears after being pierced. There hasn't been any redness after the first 30 minutes, swelling that I could see at all, pain (save the immediate piercing and about 20 minutes after), weeping of blood or serous fluid, crusting, scabbing or any other sign of trauma. Both girls look as if their ears have been pierced for years. In fact, several people who have many piercings have commented on how well they look given the length of time.

Now, we may have got lucky. We may have gone to a particularly careful branch, who are scrupulous in their procedure. They were very careful about marking up, changing the dot positions two or three times until they were happy. They changed their gloves half way through. They used separate alcohol wipes for each gun, separate wipes for each ear and separate wipes to wet the stick that made the dots.

As it happens, today was my deadline for ear piercing this year. They have to have 3 weeks before they can change earrings. So for us, that's today at the latest.

DragonMamma · 14/08/2016 11:53

I was against piercings at Claire's and took my DD to a tattoo parlour and had it done with a needle. She was absolutely fine and it healed well. We just bathed them in mildly salt water and left them alone .

Original poster

PurpleBurtle · 14/08/2016 13:38

Ive found a tattoo place that uses a needle not far from me, no appointment needed and no problems doing children..lady was more informative than the last place I called. Just deciding whether to go for it to day and just get it over with as really going my head in thinking about it now!!
Schools back in 4 weeks and they need to remove them for pe, lady says you can but there is a chance they could close up quite quickly, worse case she can sit out for a couple of lessons if the school is really strict about it but won't know till she goes back

OP posts:

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